Sometimes the fates smile upon you. Last week I was perusing the book section at one of the local thrift stores when I came upon a set of the trilogy in hardcover. It was a first impression of the Unwin Allen second edition in very good condition. The best part is I picked it up for about 5 pounds. Has anyone else ever been lucky enough to stumble on a similar situation?

Yes, all three volumes have intact dust jackets in very good condition considering they're almost 45 years old. I bought a similar set a couple of years ago of a later printing (1970) in not as good condition and paid significantly more for it.